I’m going to say this right up top: Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave might be the biggest game in the series to date. Anyone who’s played a few of the titles in this wonderful series might think that’s a bold statement, but at times I’ve been in awe at the scale of things here. More than that, though, after what felt like a “greatest hits” with Engage, Fortune’s Weave feels like a return to the Three Houses style of game, with sprawling, epic stories, taking place concurrently, but with a twist. I refuse to call it a comeback, but if you want to call it a return to form, I won’t be mad at you.
You’ll have seen (I’m sure) the trailers leading up to this point that reveal there are multiple protagonists (Cai, Leda, Dietrich, and Theodora), and this is nothing new for the series. Three Houses did this to great effect, even adding more after the fact in the form of DLC. But what’s new to Fortune’s Weave is you can actually play all four simultaneously, allowing the story to duck and dive, or weave, if you will, the entire cast together.
Some of this is probably what you’d have expected. Nintendo and Intelligent Systems aren’t foolish, and Three Houses (like Awakening in 2012) signalled a major success in the series. I won’t be spoiling anything narratively here, but I will say that the stories vary for each player, and honestly, this might be the biggest cast I’ve ever seen in a Fire Emblem. Characters come and go, and if you’re playing the stories concurrently (it’s important to note that you don’t have to, and I stuck with Leda for quite some time) it might get a little confusing seeing people flit in and out of the narrative. I’ll have to play a whole lot more to know how this all lands, but it’s very exciting so far. As usual there is plenty of levity in between the darkness, but the story is intriguing and I can’t wait to learn more.
Another surprise is that amid the superb turn-based tactics battles, there’s a whole lot more to get stuck into. I should stress that I don’t mean the character development, the class systems, and the usual fare you’d expect from the series. There’s a dungeon mechanic that changes things up, as well. A large world map allows you to spend “turns” leading up to major events, and you can explore towns, grab items, search locations, and hit up these dungeons.
Once you enter you are playing in third-person and running around the actual dungeon. There are pots and crates to smash to find items, and treasure chests and enemies that are the more important part. Some dungeons even have a second exit to allow you to find new locations on the overworld map, gaining you even more to explore.
The battles here are still turn-based, but they involve a singular health bar that needs taking out, which defeats the group of enemies. You also have a single health bar in these sections, though your heroes still have their own health too. You can use “link attacks” which has a separate bar, and this will let you literally have your party link up and do multiple attacks. Nothing has been too taxing so far, but it’s a fun diversion to explore the dungeons, clear them out (there’s a bit of text telling you when you’ve beaten all enemies, or found all treasures), and get new gear.
Your main characters have Blaze Arts this time around, and these use health to cast. I’ve seen a large variety of those so far, and while it’s early doors, I’m pretty convinced these are going to be absolutely crucial when it comes to higher difficulty runs. Many are buffs or debuffs, and when you consider the rock-paper-scissors combat that underpins the whole system, choosing to lose some health is going to be a huge tactical boon at the right moment. Combining all of that with the fact that arts cost weapon durability means you are going to have to consider every turn on those higher difficulties.
Intelligent Systems, and indeed the Fire Emblem series, is always getting bigger and adding new things. But what I wasn’t expecting from Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is that it would almost feel like an Atlus-style game at times. It’s not just the relationship mechanics, or the incredibly deep tactical gameplay, but in Fortune’s Weave you are given critical events that you have free time to spend until they happen. It reminds me of Metaphor: ReFantazio, actually, and spending these turns can be done on the world map as mentioned. But you can also just explore larger cities, train up your fighters, and so, so much more. I cannot stress enough how much there is to do in Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave already, and I’m obviously only talking about the early hours given the nature of this preview.
I’ll make no bones about it, I’m already invested and pretty much in love with Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave. The links to Three Houses are nice, of course, and the idea of the Heroic Games setting is interesting, though there’s clearly more going on than Nintendo has revealed, and I have played so far. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is a game I’m going to lose myself to for untold hours, with some of the best turn-based combat available anywhere, a deep class based setup with enormous malleability, and a stunning visual style to match.
I cannot wait to get back to the world of Dagda and find out what’s waiting for me, but first I need to tear myself away from exploration, and hearing that amazing “level up” sound that fans know so well. While I enjoyed Engage, I can still confidently say that Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is a return to form, and that it’s likely to be an incredible experience from start to finish. I just need a time machine so I can get rid of all my responsibilities and play it even more.
Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on September 17th.
